But at a press conference where he was unveiled as the new star of Spanish basketball side Baskonia, he described his four-year marriage to Kim Kardashian’s little sister as “some of the best years of my life” and said he was hoping they could patch things up.

“Only time will tell. But even if we were divorced she would always be my wife.

“Of course I hope it won’t happen and I hope we can get back together again.”

He also insisted he had no regrets about appearing on American reality TV series ‘Khloe & Lamar’ despite claims by critics his TV stardom had helped derail his basketball career.

Lamar spoke out after his official presentation on Friday as the new star of Laboral Kutxa, better known to locals as Baskonia, a historic but currently struggling team from the northern Spanish city of Vitoria.

He told a packed press conference two days after arriving in the city on a two-month contract with a year-long extension option: “My main motivation for coming here is basketball, life, a new beginning.

Lamar has left LA since the split (Image: INF)

“A new environment was important for me and I’m happy to be here.

“There were no problems in general. It was just I think because of my abilities to make things happen off the court so far as doing reality TV that some may have thought I might have lost focus and love for the game.

“It was important for me to regain that, that love of the game, and what better place and what better team to do it than here at Baskonia.”

He added: “Sometimes you get to a point in life where less is more.

"Sometimes you want to simplify things because you have had so much in abundance that you lose sight of who you really are. “I think Vitoria is the perfect place for me to sit back and reflect as well as play basketball and ask myself that question: ‘Who is Lamar’?’

Khloe and Lamar launched their own fragrance, had a reality show and other joint ventures which he thinks influenced his sporting career (Image: Getty Images)

Former NBA player Odom faced claims he was on drugs after an embarrassing video featuring him rapping bare-chested appeared on the Internet last November. The video surfaced after reports he had gone missing on a suspected drug binge. But Odom, sentenced to three years probation last December after being arrested for drink driving, said a lot of things about his life off the basketball courts had been “blown out of proportion”.

He added: “Sometimes you can’t always take what you see and prejudge it. “TV is a very very strong instrument and it never goes off.

One thing you can appreciate about me is that I’m a people person. It’s how you come across when someone meets you that’s important, not a character that’s made up.

“The personality of athletes on the court and off the court is completely different. If you get to know me off the court I think you will appreciate me as much as I appreciate you.”